each time you shift your focus to the world…

Page 7 each time you shift your focus to the world around you or things you’re grateful for you move away from the thought that might make you worried or anxious.

— from The Air Traffic Controller (God)

In the book

Some things, sadly, we are unable to appreciate at all until we have lost them — so the discipline is to notice them now, while they are still in your hands. There is a simple trick to it: the moment an anxious or bitter thought seizes the controls, turn your attention deliberately to one thing you are grateful for, and you will find you cannot hold both at once. Stuck in traffic and tightening with frustration, think of the friend who would give anything to be where you are. — The Air Traffic Controller (God)

Golda Meir called pessimism a luxury a person can never allow, and she meant it precisely: pessimism leads to laziness, because a pessimist rarely bothers to try. And you can steer yourself toward the brighter outlook deliberately: each time you turn your attention to something you are grateful for, you move away from the very thought that was about to make you anxious. Humility. Remember the line: pride is concerned with who is right; humility is concerned with what is right. — The Relationship With Yourself (Traits/Reflection)

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